Article for packaging materials



Feb. 10, 1953 c. w. voGT y 2,628,013

ARTICLE FOR PACKAGING MATERIALS Filed June 2, 1948 INVENToR Cla/eme I/l/ Vqg BY pm M M "1 A'rroRNEYs Patenteel Feb. 10, 1953 'Unirse sra-rss PATENT FFECE 2,628,013 aa'rroLE Foa PACKAGING MATERIALS Clarence W. Vogt, Norwaik, Conn. application ,rune z, 194s, serial No. 130,647

1 Claim. I

This inventiun relates to bags for the protection, storage or shipment of lvarious .materials or articles. in the preferred form the walls or liners of the 'bags are made of impervious material, so that said bags may be hermetically sealed after liing with liquids, pastos, plastics Aor other products containing iiauids or moisture, or products or articles which are to be protected against the action of liquids., gases and the atmosphere outside -of 'the bags.V

The invention relates more particularly `to a novel construction and arrangement of parts to facilitate iilling and sealing.

The main objects are to provide a construction `and method whereby bags may be held upright, filled, closed and sealed, and if desired labeled, in a simple and effective manner, and by the use of simple, inexpensive and easily operated means.

As an important feature of the invention two bags are connected at their open ends, and in such a way that they may be hung on opposite sides of a support, with the connecting portion resting on the support. Thus they will be disposed in substantially upright positions With their open ends uppermost, and will not topple over while being so supported, iilled and closed.

The connecting portion between the two bags extends along substantially less than one-half of the perimeter of the open ends, and in some cases may be very short. Thus, when the pair of bags are supported by the connecting portion, the upper ends tend to open so that no means need be provided for holding the bags open during filling. As will be lpointed out more in detail, the connecting portion may be integral with the wall of one bag and secured to the wall of the other bag, or may be integral with the walls of both bags, or may be a separate piece of sheet or strip material secured to both bags.

The bags at their open ends have inwardly facing surfaces form-ed of, or coated with, a sealing material, and the support on which the connecting portionbetween the two bags rests may be of a length in excess of one-half the bag mouth perimeter4v Thus, after lling both bags, the opposite sides of the two bag mouths may be pressed together to atten the bags at their mouths, and the closed mouths hermetically sealed. Preferably the sealing material is of a thermoplastic character, so that when heat and pressure are applied from opposite sides of the two bags simultaneously, the mouths of both bags are closed` and sealed. Such closing and sealing 'of .two bags does not exert any appreci- (Cl. 22S-"53) able strain tending to more the bag support, and thus the bag support may be of a small portable type which may be placed on a table. The y'closing and sealing may be effected by any suitable apparatus, such for instance vas v'an 'electrically heated clamp which may be closed over the upper ends of both bags, and acts not only 4to close the mouths but press them against the support and heat them to a 'suicient temperature 'Ito leffect the hermetic sealing. After filling, closingy and sealing the pair fof bags, the connecting portion may be left intact and the pair of bags stored, shipped and sold as a unit, or the connecting portion may be severed at once, or at any .later time.

The thermoplastic material may :be the .form of strips extending 'along and around the inner surface of each `bag `at its mouth, or the bags themselves may be made of the thermoplastic material, Aor said material may constitute Ya water-tight liner for bags made of paper "or other porous material. Sheets or tubes or a heat sealing cellophana such as madefand 'sold by Du Pont, pliolm such as madeand sold by Goodyear, films of a polyvinyliden'e made and sold by Dow Chemical Co. under the 'trade-mark saran, and polyethylene Asuch as sold by -Plax Corporation and Visking Corporation, `'are 'suitable materials for the bags `or liners.

Some thermoplastic material, such as 'films 'of polyvinylidene chloride, :greatly shrinks when subjected to such heating as will permit heat sealing. If such shrinkable material be Lern-- ployed in making my 'improved bags, 'or the liners thereof, I provide as a feature of my inivention a stilening strip which may be applied alongv or over the mouth portion, fand which will adhere to the Saran and prevent the latter from. shrinking during 'sealing of the bags. .Such

strips may be Iapplied to the `outer surface vof each bag mouth of thepair of bags prior to or at the time the heat and pressure are applied to soften and stick the layers' of sarahA fand the bag walls together. These shrinkpreventilg d. strips may be `pairs of separate or connected labels indicating the contents ofthe bags. Thus, the closing, sealing and labeling of two bags may be elected by a single heating and pressing operation.

The making of `the entire bag 4or ,the liner of the bag of thermoplastic material isprferred where the bags are to be filled with a Vliquid br; a liquid-containing material, orr a material tobe protected against the action of lmoisture or sas in the atmosphere. The bags may be of the pillow case type, or of the inverted pleat type, or may be of any other suitable type. The single bags shown in my Patent 2,214,944, the Vogt and Laksc Patents 2,177,918 and 2,307,902, or the Lakso Patent 2,234,051, are suitable for use in my present invention, if made or secured together in pairs at the open ends.

The pairs of connected bags may be made by use of the apparatus shown in the Lakso Patent 2,234,051, by a few simple alterations. For instance, a cutter may be geared to be rotated at the same speed as the collapsed tube, and may be located to cut intermediate of two of the heat sealers, but with those heat sealers spaced to the length of two bags instead of one, and the cutter may be arranged to cut through one side panel and the inverted pleats but not through the opposite panel. In the making of the connected pairs of bags, such pairs may be formed end to end as a long strip, or the pairs may be connected side by side, and in the latter case, later cut apart into pairs.

The making of the connected pairs of bags and the filling of them while still connected has many advantages. size, and serve as ampules for pharmaceuticals, in which case they would be made solely of the thermoplastic material and have a capacity of only l to 25 cc. Such ampules do not need to be cut or broken open, as the hypodermic needle may be used to pierce the wall of the bag, and the contents may be drawn directly into the syringe. Thus there is no liability of minute fragments of glass getting into the serum, as sometimes may occur where the ampule is of glass which must be broken open.

The individual filling of small single bags would be tedious and expensive, whereas by means of the present invention the bags may be supported on any small horizontal bar or supporting rod, and the lling and sealing effected by a simple heating and pressing operation which greatly reduces the cost and increases the ease of handling.

The bags may be used in the home for packaging of fruits, catsup, vegetables and other home prepared products, or for protecting products to be subjected to deep freezing. For such purposes the bags may be of pint, quart, or larger capacity. Single bags, even of such larger size and with rectangular bottoms, cannot be readily held in upright position during filling, because of the exibility of the walls; and sealing cannot be readily eiected in the home. By means of the present invention all such difficulties are overcome, as the pair of bags may be supported, for instance on the back of a chair, during the lling and sealing, as by partly filling one bag before lling the other bag, the weights will counterbalance each other, and the bags do not need to be supported other than by the connecting part.

The sealing may be effected by simultaneously closing and clamping the open ends of both bags against the chair back or other support while the necessary heat is applied to eiect the heat-sealing, and as equal pressures are applied from opposite sides there is no liability of tipping the support, even if it be merely placed on a table.

In the home, the heat and pressure may be applied by pressing a flatiron or other heating appliance, or one made particularly for the purpose, laterally against the closed mouths of the bags to press them against the bag support.

The manufacturing of the bags is a simple The bags may be of small operation. In some forms they may be made from a continuous seamed or seamless tube with opposite walls sealed together along narrow transverse strips spa-ced apart a distance equal to the length of two bags. The tube may be cut transversely through each sealed area and cut nearly, but not all the way across midway between such sealed areas, to thus form pairs of bags connected at their open ends. A plurality of pairs of bags may be made from two superposed sheets or strips, heat sealed together along the desired area, and later cut apart into pairs.

Bags of the inverted pleat and rectangular bottom type may be made in pairs, with the closed bottoms at the outer end and the side walls partly connected instead of being completely severed at the open ends. Also, separate bags may be made by any known commercial method, and of a single layer of thermoplastic material, or of multiple layers with the inner lining of the thermoplastic material, and after completion vof the individual bags they may be connected together in pairs by superposing andsealing together portions of the thermoplastic material of'two bags at their mouths, or by applying a separate sealing strip, or by overlapping tabs at the open ends and sealing such tabs together. The bags may be made of separate sections cf tubing, each length sealed or closed at one end, and with its open connected to a simil-ar open end` of another length by a separate strip or short section of thermoplastic coated paper. What is essential is that the bags be connected together in pairs at their open ends, and with the' linings or strips at the mouths, or the entire bags may be of the thermoplastic material.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. l yis a perspective view of a pair oi bags embodying my invention, and made from seamless thermoplasti-c tubing.

Fig. 2fi`s a perspective view showing how such pairs of bags may be made from a continuous strip of tubing.

Fig. 3 Ais a side elevation showing a pair of bags supported in position for iilling,

Fig. 4 is a perspective View of a closed and sealed bag.

Fig. 5 is a side elevation showing a pair of bags on a support, and having reinforcing labels or tabs applied at the sealed area.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view of portions of a pair of sealed bags after being sealed as shown in Fig. 5, and preparatory to being cut apart.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a form of sealing device which may be employed for effecting the sealing.

Fig. 8 lis a perspective view of a multi-ply bag with a heat scalable lining, and of a type adapted to be sealed to a similar bag to form a pair of bags connected together at their open ends.

Figli) is a section showing the sealing operation of two such bags as shown in Fig. 8.

Fig. l0 is a plan view of portions of a pair oi bags, each having a tab extending from the open end of the thermoplastic lining.

Fig. il is a section on the line Il- I of Fig. 10, showing two such bags as shown in Fig. 10 with their tabs together,

Fig.` l2 is a plan view showing another way in which the bags may be made; and

Fig. 13 is a section on the line I3-l3 of Fig. l2, and on a larger scale.

One of the simplest forms of two bags ccnnected at their open ends is that shown in Fig. 1. A seamless tube of thermoplastic material, such spasms as polyethylene.. maybe employed. for making this formof connected' bags, or the tube may bemade from a sheet with the opposite edges sealed together.

As shown in Fig. 2, a. seamless or seamed tube fff may be heat sealed along comparatively narrow transverse areas 2l spaced apart to distances equal to the length of a pair of bags. This transverse sealing,r beeected in any suitable manner by applying heat and pressure to the areas to be seamed. Midway between the sealed areas 2i the tube may be cut nearly, but not entirely in two, along a transverse line 22. The tube may then be cut' up into sections and along lines midway between the side edges of each sealed area 2 l, and there will thus be formed a plurality of pairs of bags 23 sealed at the bottom and connected together for a short distance along the periphery at the open ends, as shown in Fig. l. The pair of tubes may be supplied as articles of commerce, or a tube o1" any desired length be partially cut along the lines 22, and if desired partially across the sealed area, 'and the tube folded in pleat form as shown at the right hand end oi` Fig. 2, and with the sealed areas along one end of each alternate fold, and the other partial cuts along intermediate fold lines. Thus when the bags are to be used, the only cutting or tearing necessary is to complete the severingr through the sealed areas. Ii desired, the transverse cut 22 may be made just before the bags are to be iilled, and thus the interior of the bags may be maintained sterile.

In using connected bags embodying the present invention, the two bags may be suspended on any suitable device including a bag supporting horizontal bar and side surfaces against which the bodies of the bags may rest. Merely for purposes of illustration I have shown a bar 2s forming the upper portion of a block Z5 having opposed inclined walls 26. This block may be of -a single piece of wood presenting opposed inclined surfaces 2S and a base surface 27, or it may be made of a strip of stii sheet material such as doubleiaced corrugated board folded and having its ends overlapped `and secured together to orrn the base, and with the upper fold portion forming the supporting bar 2e,

With the supported as shown in 3, they may be lled in any suitable or well known manner. For instance, the illing material may be poured in from a small dipper, or it may be sup plied through tubes 28 terminating over the upper open ends of the two connected bags.

When the bags have been filled to the desired extent, but not entirely full, the upper open ends are closed and subjected to heat and pressure to seal them. The sealing may be eiected by pressing two heatiinr elements against the outer surfaces of the two bags at their upper open ends, to press the opposite walls tightly together and against the supporting bar 2li. The bags may be separately sealed if the supporting member is sufficiently rigidly mounted so as to sustain the desired lateral pressure from one side only, or the two bags may be simultaneously closed and sealed cy applying heating elements from opposite sides simultaneously.

In Fig. 7 I have shown a simple form of sealing device which includes two jaw members 29 hinged together and having electric heating elements, with the current supplied from suitable wires 3B leading to a source of electrical energy. The current should be so controlled and the heating elements so designed that upon placing the two members 29 upon opposite sides of the open end 6 of the bag and `pressing them tightly toward each other, they will heat the thermoplastic material to a sufficient `extent to eect complete sealing action in a very short period of time, but not sufcient'to unduly melt the thermoplastic material. After the open ends of the bags have been sealed together, the pair of bags may be stored, shipped or sold as pairs, or the connecting portion at the mouths ofthe bags may be severed to form two hermetically sealed bags 3 i, as shown in Fig. 4.

The method of sealing above described is applicable to those thermoplastic materials which soften but do not shrink upon the application of heat. In case the thermoplastic material be a' polyvinylidene chloride lm, which very greatly shrinks upon heating, such shrinking may be prevented by the use of reinforcing elements, which elements may also serve as labels to indicatethe contents of the sealed bags.

As shown vin Fig. 5, two such labels may be employed, and each provided with a thermoplastic cement or other adhesive which upon being pressed against the shrinkable thermoplastic material and heated, will adhere Iirmly to the sheet material,.and will hold it against shrinking before the latter becomes heated to the sealing temperature at which it would otherwise shrink.. In use, one of such labels is laid acrossy the upper edge of the supporting bar 24 with the adhesive surface uppermost, the bags are placed in posi tion over it, and after the bags have been nlled, the mouths are closed by hand or by any suitable apparatus, and the second label, with the ad hesive on the lower side, is placed over the conu nected upper portion of the two bags. Heat and pressure are then applied to seal the labels to the bag walls, and momentarily thereafter seal together the opposite walls of each bag. The adhering of the bag walls to the adhesive labels will prevent the walls from shrinking, if they be of polyvinylidene chloride or other thermoplastic material which tends to shrink on heating. The adhesive may become tacky below 259 F., whereas the Saran softens and fuses at about 280 F. Thus the time interval in sealing the label in place and sealing the bag mouths may be due solely to the time of heat transmission through the layer.

One or both of the labels may be printed on each half, to indicate the contents of the bag, the amount, the name of the manufacturer or packager, the directions for using, and/or other pertinent information.

In the bags above described, an entire bag is made of thermoplastic material, but as previously noted, the thermoplastic material may serve merely as the lining for a bag of paper or other strong but porous material. In Fig. 8 I have shown the mouth portion of a. bag of the type in which there is a liner 4i! of thermoplastic, impervious material, and an outer body portion il of paper. The bag is shown of the type ni which there are inverted pleats, and with the outer paper layer cut away Within the pleats et the mouth end oi the bag, as disclosed and claimed in my Patent 2,234,065, so that in heat sealing, the pleats well as the open end of the bag are closed.

In the construction shown in Fig. 8, the usual notch or recess ft2 is formed in one side wall at the mouth to facilitate opening of the bag, but in the opposite side wall only the outer paper layer is cut away, so as to leave a wall portion 63 solely in the liner of thermoplastic material.

Two such bags as shown in Fig. 8 may be superposed with the wall portions 43 in direct contact, as shown in Fig. 9, and a pair of pressing and heat sealing members 44 may be applied to heat and press together these portions 43 so as to form a pair of bags connected together for a short distance at their open ends.

In Figs. 10 and 11 I have shown the opposed mouth portions of a pair of lined bags d5, each lining of thermoplastic material having a tab d6 on one side wall only and extending beyond the body of the bag. Thus the two bags may be placed end to end, but slightly spaced apart, and with the tabs 46 superposed, so that these may then be directly sealed together by applying heat and pressure in the same way as indicated in Fig. 9.

In Figs. 12 and 13 there is shown a further form of construction which may be employed. Strips B, 5l and 52 may be continuously fed from right to left, and open-ended tubes 53 are fed in any suitable manner to position them transversely of the strips, with the ends of the tubes coming midway of the edges of the strips 5B and El, and with the strip 52 under the mid-portion of the tubes. All of the strips contain coatings of adhesive which is preferably of a delayed action thermoplastic type, and which has been activated in spots or limited areas which will register with portions of the ends and mid-portions of the tubes. This activation may be by heat to render the heated area tacky and hold the bags in the desired predetermined positions on the strips. The side strips are progressively folded over the ends of the tubes, pressed down, and heated to hermetically close the ends of the tubes. The tubes and the middle strip are pressed together to cause them to firmly adhere in the activated areas, but not to seal together opposite walls ci the tube mid-way between the ends, A cutter then operates to form' a slip 54 separating the tubes into two bags 53a, closed and sealed at their outer ends, and to cut the middle strip 52 into strips 52a., each attached to the mouth portion of a separate row of bags. A fourth strip 55, preferably previously spot activated by heat, is then applied over the slit and pressed on to cause the activated portions to adhere to the bags but not seal together opposite walls of the bags at their open ends. All of the strips may then be severed between each successive pair of bags, as indicated at 56, to form pairs open at their adjacent ends but connected together as a pair by the sections of the strip 55. Ii desired, the chain of bag pairs thus formed may be printed and/or rolled up in a coil for later lling, sealing and separation into single bags; or the chain may be separated into separate pairs for filling and sealing. For iactory iilling, the transverse cuts 55 may not be between each pair of bags of the chain, but between each series of for instance six or more pairs, so that all of the series of pairs may be supported on a suitable bar by the connecting strip 55, and simultaneously filled and sealed. After lling and sealing the bags they may be cut apart and sold as individual packages, or cut into pairs connected end to end, or into pairs connected side by side, or in other multiples.

The forms shown in the accompanying drawings are only a few of many different forms, and illustrate many different ways in which a pair of bags having the bodies or the linings of thermoplastic material, may be directly connected together at their open ends so 'that they may be mounted on opposite sides of and suspended over a supporting bar with their open ends uppermost, so that they may be sealed. If labels or other reinforcing strips are not employed, as shown in Fig. 5, it is necessary in some cases to treat the surface of the supporting bar so that the thermoplastic material in being heated and sealed will not at the same time adhere to the bar. Various compositions may be applied to the surface of the bar to prevent such adhesion. A suitable material for the bar is silicone.

In the constructions shown in Figs. 8, 9, l0 and ll, the parts designated as the liner of a multiply walled bag may be merely bands or strips along the inner surface of the outer wall at the open ends, so that the bag may be sealed by the application of heat and pressure immediately after lling, or after a suitable time interval, even though the body of the bag is not formed of impervious thermoplastic material.

In Figs. 1l and 12 a pair of strips may be used 011 Opposite sides of the bass at the bottoms, instead of a single strip of twice the width and folded over as shown.

It will be understood that the sheet or tube material used in making the bags may be extremely thin, and that in the drawings, particularly Figs. 5, 6, 9, 11 and 13, these parts as well as the strips are shown of greatly magnified thickness.

Having thus" described my invention, what I clatim as new and desire to secure by Letters Paten 1s:

An article of manufacture comprising a pair of pillow case type bags, each bag having normally rlat opposite sides and having an open end forming a filling mouth, iiexible connecting means extending from one side of one bag adjacent the mid-portion of the mouth thereof to one side of the other bag adjacent the mid-portion of the mouth thereof and forming the sole connection between said bags, the opposite sides of the bags being unconnected with each other, said connecting means connecting the bags for movement between one position in which the bag mouths face outwardly in the same direction and are on opposite sides of said connecting means and another position in which said mouths face each other, said connecting means being substantially narrower than the width of said one side oi each bag, there being unconnected edge portions in said one side at the mouth of each bag on opposite sides of said connecting means, said connecting means serving as a support for said bags when they are in said one position, said unconnected edge portions being ilexible and bendable relative to said connecting means to enable the mouths of the bags to be opened for filling while the bags are supported by said connecting means, and the last-mentioned means being separable to enable the mouths of said bags to be sealed after filling.

CLARENCE W. VOGT.

REFERENCES CTED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Y (Other references on following page) Number Number Number Name Date Donnellan Nov. 9, 1943 Salsberg Mar. 14, 1944 Rohdin May 28, 1946 Waters Oct. 22, 1946 Roos Nov. 18, 1947 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain May 28, 1914 Great Britain Apr. 11, 1923 Austria Jan. 15, 1933 France July 26, 1037 

